


ColonyTale

by Nicolle



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Science Fiction, Undertale AU, generation ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-07-21 17:45:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7397275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicolle/pseuds/Nicolle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two thousand years into a journey across the cosmos, the colony ship Delta has discovered a lone cryo-stasis pod containing the most mythical of beings: a human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ColonyTale  
> by Nicolle
> 
> Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. ColonyTale is my AU. Story copyright to me.

Chapter One

"Oh my God. You're awake!" Alphys ran to her patient. "Don't get up! Just wait! Um..." 

Alphys gently touched her patient's face, carefully adjusting the bandages around the eyes.

"While you were in cryo-stasis, several of your internal organs failed, including your eyes. I was able to clone and replace the damaged organs except for your eyes. I had to replace them with cybernetic ones."

The patient's fingers moved, and Alphys held them briefly. "Can you understand me?"

Just a whisper, "Yes."

"Good. Um..." Alphys reached for a pair of shears. "I'm going to remove the bandages from around your eyes. If your new eyes are correctly engaged with your brain, you are going to see a yellow lizard woman." Alphys snipped the wrappings on the right side of the patient's face, and carefully pulled them away. 

The patient's eyes opened, completely black. The patient blinked and the mechanical iris spun as it closed in, filling the eyes with a myriad of shifting colors around the black pupil. The patient linked again, eyes yellow orange, and regarded Alphys.

"You aren't freaking out?"

The whisper came again, strained from the exertion, but amused. "You told me you were a yellow lizard woman. I didn't have any reason to believe that you were lying." 

Alphys smiled nervously. "I'll give you the run down on where you are and how we found you while I do a vision test to make sure you're seeing okay." She fiddled with the I.V. lines to the patient's arm, checking the fluid levels before grabbing an ophthalmoscope. "We found your cryo pod floating in the middle of no where, approximately two hundred light years from M64." 

The whisper strained with worry. "The Black Eye Galaxy?"

Alphys checked the reaction of the mechanical pupils to the light of the ophthalmoscope, before looking in the magnifier. "Yes. Is that significant?"

"My ship was going in the," the voice was losing to strain, "opposite direction."

Alphys blinked a few times and sat back. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two."

"Can you read the sign on the wall behind me?"

The eyes, green gold, narrowed on the sign and then focused on Alphys. "It says, 'Get Well Soon.'" The patient took a deep breath before speaking again. "How do I know that? The language you speak is familiar, but the letters on the sign are unfamiliar."

"Several thousand years will do that to a language." Alphys blushed, looking away. "When I was reasonably sure you would survive, I put an implant in your head. I hoped that the language program I ran would allow you to 'catch up' as it were. I'm really glad I was right!"

Alphys put the ophthalmoscope down. "Your muscles suffered considerable atrophy because the system that approximated normal body motion in the pod broke down. The bed your in now has been moving you while you recovered from the transplants, but it's very likely that you will need to use crutches at least while going through physical therapy."

The patient nodded. "Are you an alien?" The voice was getting stronger, the whisper disappearing.

Alphys cocked her head to the side, thinking about that. "I'm not sure how to answer that. Are you from Earth?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess I'm not." Alphys head bobbed a little as she thought about her answer. "The ship you're on came from Earth and everyone here is a descendant of the monsters who left Earth so technically, I'm not an alien in relation to you. On the other hand, people on the ship think Earth, and humans, are myths." 

The patient smiled. "When I left Earth on the FTL, monsters were a myth."

Alphys relaxed, suddenly disarmed by the patient's smile. "Based on the age of your pod, this ship left Earth about a thousand years before you did."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Twelve hundred years."

The patient blinked and sank into the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

Alphys sighed, shoulders dropping. "I'll let you be for a bit while that sinks in." The lizard woman stood. "Your pod only had a serial number on it and medical information. It didn't have any other identifying information. Do you remember your name?" 

"My name is Frisk."

Alphys left the room and found His Majesty, Prince Asriel Dreemurr and special investigator Sans Boneheart watching the patient through the observation window.

Sans rocked back on his heels, bare phalanges clacking against the tiled floor, boney hands shoved in the pockets of his blue hoodie. "*what's the news, alph?"

"She's awake."

Asriel crossed his arms over his purple clad chest, black pants shoved in his boots, black utility vest pockets bulging with all manner of equipment. He looked over his shoulder through the glass, causing his long hair to twist around his shoulders. "Status?" 

"Biologically female human, physically twenty three years old." Alphys gave a side long glance at them. "That's a young adult for humans." She straightened and continued. "Scans showed no sign of brain damage after removal from the cryo-stasis pod and the most recent scan showed full function even after terminal implant. All replaced internal organs are functioning properly and the language program I fed her through the implant appears to have worked."

"And the ghosts?"

"They turn up left and right, even Napstablook. Though no official information on the human's location on the Delta has been released, the ghosts have been here day in and day out. All six of them."

Asriel frowned and watched as one of the Blook family ghosts floated into the room from the far wall. It peered around the curtain next to the bed, watching quietly. "At least they don't seem to be inclined to reveal her location."

"Mettaton was rather insistent to the rest of his family that they keep it under wraps." Alphys watched the ghost through the window. "Which is funny when you think about how, with the exception of him, the rest of the Blooks are phenomenally quiet."

"*so what's the plan, boss man? there's a decent chunk of monsters who think we should just dump the kid out an air lock."

Asriel glared at the skeleton. "I am not inclined to kill someone based on a legend about how we ended up on the Delta over two thousand years ago."

"She mentioned that monsters were myths to her. That would seem to indicate that whatever sent us searching the stars, even the humans of her time had completely forgotten about it."

Asriel raised an eye brow. "Her time?"

"*information pulled from the stasis pod indicates that the human has been floating out there for twelve hundred years."

Asriel's jaw dropped. He turned fully to the window, hands now resting on the sill. "That's impossible."

Sans shrugged. "*impossible or not. we now have a living, breathing myth living on the ship. does she have a name?"

"Frisk."

The skeleton's eyes went completely black. "No. That can't be right." He put both boney hands on the glass of the observation window staring at the patient with an intensity that matched Asriel's. "Frisk... Frisk is supposed to be a child."

Asriel looked down at Sans. "Technically speaking, she will be as a child while she adjusts to living among monsters." He sighed. "Is this the human you've been waiting for? The one other versions of you seem to collect? The other Sans-es seemed very keen that the arrival of the human named Frisk was a serious boon to monsters." 

Sans looked up at him, whites returning to the sockets. "*i thought it'd be a kid." His left eye socket glowed a bright blue. "*papyrus says that the glacial biome is now under full quarantine."

Asriel growled. "With this microbe that's invaded the ship, I have an actual crisis to deal with and I know the press conference is going to be filled with questions about the human." Supreme annoyance flooded his eyes, only to pass as he watched the patient. 

Frisk had noticed the ghost and turned her head toward it. She reached out weakly with one hand and the ghost floated down to her.

Asriel sighed. "Record their conversation. I'd like to know why the Blooks are so interested."

Alphys nodded and hurried to the comm.

"*you know why they're interested."

"But Alphys doesn't, so I need to make it look right." 

Asriel watched Frisk for a few moments more before heading out of the Lab. Sans continued to stare through the window. After three weeks of watching her quietly cram as much information about the Delta as she could between physical therapy, Sans was bored. Asriel came to watch her from the window every other day, but the goat prince hadn't been much for conversation. Sans went in the room.

"*Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Why don't you shake my hand."

Frisk reached out slowly and put her hand in Sans' boney one, only to jump at the whoopee cushion deflating.

"*heheh... the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny."

She smiled brightly. Her hand fell, losing the strength to hold her arm up for too long. She looked at the food in front of her, the mess made from trying to eat with muscles refusing to work properly. Her smile fell.

Sans reached out and took a fork in his boney hand. "*here. let me help." He began feeding her. "*i'm sans. sans the skeleton. i'm actually supposed to be keeping an eye on you. keeping you in the lab. but, you know, i don't think you'll be going much of anywhere. but my brother, papyrus, he would love to meet a human. he's a human legend FANATIC." Sans smiled. "*hey! i've got an idea. why don't we go see him?" 

Frisk gave him another bright smile. 

Sans angled the wheelchair around a corner, speeding past shocked monsters on the walkway. Frisk giggled as they shot past the corridor connector into the Snowdin Biome. A bit of blue magic had the wheelchair up a ramp and onto the snowy forest path, slowing down to a regular walking pace. 

"Woah..." Frisk gazed at the simulated night sky of the biome. Her breath rose above her in a soft mist. "It feels like I'm going to grandma's on Christmas Eve."

Sans smiled, pulling a blanket from the void to cover her. "*is it like earth?" 

She nodded. "Yeah."

They came upon a clearing and Sans hid Frisk behind a conveniently shaped snow drift just as Papyrus in his blue and gold police uniform came into the clearing.

"*sup, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP,' BROTHER! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING THE HUMAN TODAY! INSTEAD I FIND YOU STARING AT A SNOW DRIFT!"

"*it's really cool. do you wanna look?"

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!" Papyrus stamped his foot. "WHAT IF THE HUMAN ESCAPES THE LAB? IT'S BAD ENOUGH THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HUMAN LEGEND EXPERT! HAVE NOT EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO SEE THE HUMAN!" He pointed at his brother. "AND YOU STAND THERE, LOLLYGAGGING AROUND, SHIRKING THE GREATEST PRIVILEGE THAT HIS MAJESTY COULD BESTOW?! OUTRAGEOUS!"

Frisk's laughter flowed over the snow and Papyrus' righteous indignation faltered. His arm fell to his side and he stepped carefully to look around the snowdrift.

"IS THIS THE HUMAN?"

"*i think it's a rock."

"I am not a rock!" Frisk attempted to throw a snowball only to have it fall flat before it could hit Sans. Her shoulders fell, but her smile only grew.

"NO, NO, NO. THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO IT!" Papyrus grabbed a huge handful of snow and shoved it in Sans' face. "THAT IS HOW YOU HANDLE MY BROTHER! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Frisk let out a howl of laughter before holding out her hand. "I'm Frisk."

Papyrus took her hand very gently in his gloved phalanges. "A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, HUMAN FRISK!"

"And you, Papyrus!"

"And while we're on the topic of pleasure, your little joy ride caused quite a stir through the Niven Corridor, Sans." Asriel stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. 

Alphys hopped nervously behind him, glancing between Asriel and Sans rapidly.

Asriel sighed, arms dropping as he walked to the wheelchair. "Thankfully, no one thinks you were carting Frisk around." He knelt to tuck the blanket around her a little more tightly. "I know how hard it is to be cooped up in one place for too long." He looked at Sans. "The next time you feel like a field trip, notify me of where you're going first." He stood and headed back toward Alphys. "Also let Alphys know so she doesn't turn into a nervous wreck wondering where you've gone." He went back down the path to the corridor.

Alphys jaw dropped. "Did he just let you off with a warning? I thought you were dust!"

Sans shrugged. "*that went well." He winked at Frisk with his left eye. "*don't sweat it, kid. i'll keep an eye socket on you."

"I'm older than you."

Sans' smile grew. "*only technically. ready to see the rest of the biome?"

Frisk nodded and snuggled down in the blanket. 

"*i bet you're hungry by now. how about a bite? my favorite place is just around the corner and i know a short cut." He pushed the wheel chair forward and disappeared with Frisk.

Papyrus' shoulders sank, head drooping. "I HATE IT WHEN HE DOES THAT! AND I HAD SO MANY QUESTIONS!"

Alphys patted his arm. "Just come by the Lab." She looked in the direction of the corridor.

Papyrus followed her gaze. "I AM A BIT OFF PUT BY HOW..." He struggled for a word. "LENIENT HIS MAJESTY WAS."

Alphys nodded and ran down the path, quickly heading after her sovereign. "Your Highness!" 

Asriel stopped in the corridor and looked to her. 

She bounced nervously. "I'm sorry to have bothered you with this."

"It's no trouble, Dr. Alphys. It was only a matter of time until Frisk wanted to see the ship. Status on her therapy, please."

"Oh! Uh... Frisk has been progressing well. She tires out quickly though."

"Her HP is still very low. You have permission to give her food that will raise it."

Alphys jaw dropped. "But her LOVE..."

"Is not as high as mine. Make sure Sans takes Frisk through the rest of the original biomes. Once she's done that, I'll come by to talk to her about her past." 

Alphys nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ColonyTale   
> by Nicolle
> 
> Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. ColonyTale is my AU. Story copyright to me.

Chapter 2

Frisk leaned in toward the terminal screen, eyes shifting colors softly. "Hello? Are you there?"

"And who might you be talking too?"

"You. The ship's A.I."

A bright yellow star appeared in front of her, floating in front of the screen. "You would be, in two thousand years, the second person to figure out that I was conscious. How did you guess that I was?"

Frisk shrugged. "You're a two thousand year old A.I. To have attained that age without entering rampancy, you must have been conscious." Frisk smiled. "Who was the first to figure it out?"

"A certain engineer."

"Cagey, huh? Do you have a name?"

"I do not."

Frisk frowned, pupils dilating and constricting against swirling red blue irises. "Your programmer didn't give you a name?"

The star pulsed. "No."

"I'll call you Delta."

"You are naming me after the ship?" The voice sounded very amused.

"No. After my favorite character from an old web series back on Earth. Delta was the logic fragment of another A.I."

"Interesting. I should like to know more about this Delta." The star pulsed. "Sans will be here very soon. When you need me, simply talk, and I will hear you. Touch my avatar."

"How am I supposed to touch a hologram?" She reached forward and a tingling sensation greeted her hand. The star flashed and disappeared.

"Should you have a need to, you can return to this moment. Summon me and you can replace this time with another."

Frisk pushed herself up, leaning heavily on the wall next to the terminal. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Delta."

The star reappeared. "I am a two thousand year old A.I. constructed from both science and magic. I have the ability to manipulate time in small amounts. For naming me, I am giving you access to that gift." 

Frisk pulled away from the terminal, legs unsteady, and she gritted her teeth in frustration.

"If I may offer you a piece of advice, when you speak to His Majesty, call him by his name."

That caught her attention. "Call him by his name?"

The star pulsed before disappearing. "If he asks you why, tell him it is because it is his name."

Frisk limped back over to the bed, leaning heavily on the crutches. She sat down just as Sans came in the room, bare boney feet clacking against the floor.

"*ready for today's field trip?" 

"Where are we going today?" Frisk asked as she pulled on her shoes.

"*waterfall. the blooks said they wanted you to see their ancestral home. have you been enjoying the field trips?"

She nodded. 

"*do any of the places really feel like being on earth?"

"The great forests in the plates. When we go to them, it feels like I'm back on Earth." She frowned, eyes green brown. "Everything else is off, just a little. The beach doesn't have the same heat, the waves lack the full force of the ocean. Snowdin lacks the bitter winds of winter. New Home is an amazing city, but it's too clean. There's no edge. No grime." She smiled at Sans. "I'm not complaining. Just, reminiscing." 

He patted her shoulder. "*i can't give you the earth. but maybe i can give you something that will make you feel like the delta is your home."

Frisk grabbed her crutches and followed Sans out of the Lab. Alphys gave them a wave as they headed off into the Robinson Corridor. Several school children from Snowdin bunched up around them on the moving walkway, each one trying to get a close look at the human they'd met by chance months ago. 

"Careful! You'll knock me over!"

The children started laughing, each working to get Frisk's attention until Sans helped her off the walkway and into the Waterfall Biome. She stepped into the glowing, aqua blue night of the biome and froze, staring in wonder at the beauty. Luminous water fell from tall cliffs and small hills alike, creating sparkling waterways filled with lush reed fields and gleaming blue flowers. Lightning bugs that gave off the same aqua glow of the waters floated through the air. 

"Oh."

Sans smiled, hands stuffed in his pockets. His bare boney feet clacked lightly on the gravel path. He walked a bit before realizing that Frisk wasn't following. She stood there, transfixed. Sans walked up to her.

"*like what you see?"

"I... I don't have words."

"waterfall is something else. it's first of the aquifer biomes. water on the ship is recycled continuously and pumped through the aquifer biomes. they condense, filter, and purify water for the entire ship. though this one has the distinction of being in an eternal night."

Frisk's eyes reflected the aqua gleam. "How do the plants grow?"

"the plants that live here photosynthesize off the glow."

"Wow..."

"*come on, kid. the blooks are waiting."

Frisk followed slowly, trying, with all her might to see every detail, every rushing waterfall, every whispering flower. "I am older than you," she muttered.

"*only technically." 

They stopped in front of a pair of oddly shaped houses, four ghosts, one dummy, and a very flamboyant robot. 

"She's here!"

"This is so exciting. The first living human on the ship!"

"Stay calm."

"I'll show you staying calm!"

"Oh..."

Mettaton, in all his black and violet humanoid beauty, immediately took over formal introductions. "Welcome to Waterfall and the Blook family residences, darling! I'm Mettaton!"

Frisk shook his hend, leaning heavily on the opposite crutch. "It's nice to meet you. I like watching your cooking show."

His eyes glowed brightly. "You do?! The second most famous person on the Delta is a fan?" He lifted her up. "Oh but of course you are! Come! Today we will show you around the most lovely of the all the biomes." He whisked her off, placing her on his shoulder to travel the biome, and completely dominating the conversation. "You must see the flowers here, darling!" 

"They're beautiful."

Mettaton smiled. "Oh there's more." He whisked her onto the grounds of the Blook family farm. "These are Echo Flowers and will repeat everything said to them until someone else speaks something to them instead." He knelt so Frisk could hear the passing conversation.

"This the first time you've talked about anything besides the ship. You're yappin' up quite a storm there, boy!"

"Am I really?"

Frisk looked at the Blooks. "Who's speaking?"

Sans shrugged. "Who knows? Lots of people come here to walk and the flowers do not preserve the original voice exactly. That said, it does sound like Old Gerson is talking to someone."

"Gerson?"

"An old turtle monster," another of the Blooks offered. "He's retired now and runs a little shop here in the biome." 

After a tour of Waterfall, they visited each Blook home. Skyblook showed of the small medical clinic in his home. Mad Dummy showed off Undyne's home and introduced the bemused Captain of the Guard to Frisk. Sageblook showed off his cafe. Goldblook took them on a tour of the police station. They finished the tour by laying on the floor of Napstablook's living room, pretending to be garbage, and becoming one with the universe. When Frisk sat up, she caught her hair under her elbow.

"Ow!" She held out a lock of hair. "I need a hair cut."

"Don't you dare!" Mettaton hissed. "You are entirely too adorable with long hair, darling." He paused for a moment, finger tapping his bottom lip. "I suppose you could use a different color." He waved Sans along. "To my home!"

Sans leaned over to look at Frisk. She shrugged. He shrugged as well and helped her to Mettaton's house. Sitting her down in a chair, the robot fussed about her hair before lining up an array of chemicals on the table.

"I'm so sorry about my cousin," Napstablook tittered. "When he wants to do something, he just does it."

Mettaton shooed his cousin aside. "First, let's bleach out this brown." Two robot arms worked her head, heat treating while evenly spreading the bleach. A third arm and then a fourth appeared, picking up two different bottles and mixing dyes. "For you, I think a gold with touches of red." He rinsed out the bleach, leaving pale yellow hair behind.

"That's the fastest acting bleach I've ever seen," Frisk mused.

"Well, hair products have seen developments in the last... How long has it been for you?" 

"Twelve hundred years."

"In the last twelve hundred years." The robot applied the dye quickly and evenly, combing it through as he heated it, before rinsing it completely. A conditioning and drying later, Mettaton held up a mirror. "What do you think, darling?"

Frisk blinked, eyes a rainbow wash. She pulled at a lock to look at the red gold. "It's marvelous!" She smiled up at him. "I love it!"

"Of course you do!"

Sans eye glowed a bright blue. "*we're being summoned."

"Summoned?"

"*king asgore and queen toriel wish to meet you."

"The King and Queen wish an audience?" Mettaton helped Frisk from the chair. "Then you cannot keep them waiting!"

Sans handed Frisk the crutches. "*this'll be a good chance to show you the first biome, but we'll need to take a short cut if we're going to get all the way over there in anything like a decent amount of time." 

"Thank you for inviting me to visit." Frisk smiled. "I've had a wonderful time."

Napstarblook flew up to her. "Do you really like it here?" 

"I do. It's beautiful in ways I can't describe."

He moved back and forth as if he were nervously hopping on non-existent feet. "Will you come live here? When you're cleared from the Lab? I have a spare room on the second floor. It's not much, but it's quiet and you can see the garden from the window and..."

"Yes."

There was a stunned silence from the rest of the Blooks as they stared at their cousin.

"Really?"

Frisk nodded. "Really."

Napstablook nervously tittered before smiling, almost excited. "Oh. Good!"

Sans chuckled. "*this isn't exactly what i meant by finding you a home, but it works!" He winked and put an arm around Frisk.

"Thank you, Blooky. And thank you all again for inviting me here."

After a few happy waves from the Blooks, Sans took a few steps before teleporting her into a new biome filled with the remains of old residences. 

She looked up at the door to a very standard looking brick house. "Are we at the right place?"

"*yep. the dreemurr family has never been an extravagant bunch. his majesty doesn't even keep a separate home. he lives in his offices in new home."

"I have a question about that."

"*about what?"

"You call Asriel 'His Majesty,' an honorific reserved for a king, but his title is prince."

"*welp. that comes from the interesting situation the ruling family finds themselves in. king asgore and queen toriel retired a good two hundred years ago, leaving prince asriel in charge. as per tradition, he won't take the title of king until he chooses a queen to ascend the throne with him. but he is the delta's ruler and so receives the honor of majesty over highness."

"Two hundred years? Why hasn't he chosen a wife?"

Sans looked away. "*his majesty is... well... he's always been a bit hard and rather sharp. his responsibilities weigh on him and he's been forced into making a few decisions that have raised his level quite a few times over the years. he just doesn't have anyone to share that load with. guess he's just waiting for his 'second in command' to appear." 

"Raised his level?"

Sans cocked his skull to the side. "*i'm sure you've heard alphys talk about LOVE. it's an acronym. it stands for Level Of ViolencE. when you kill someone, your level raises. i'm sure you understand what that means for his majesty."

Frisk frowned. "Is that why some of the news programs talk about me with fear? My level?"

Sans sighed. "it's not exactly encouraging. you wanna tell me what you did to earn yours?"

Frisk looked ahead, eyes a sudden, flat red. "I was a soldier during a time of war."

"*humans do that kind of thing, huh?" He waved his phalanges in front of her face. "*hey, kid. wakey wakey."

She looked at him with a wry smile, eyes green blue. "I'm older than you, Sans."

"*only technically." He knocked on the door.

A large, white goat woman opened the door. "Come in! Come in! Thank you for joining us!"

"Thank you for inviting me, Your Majesty." Frisk hobbled up the steps on the crutches. 

Toriel moved aside to let her in, directing her to the table in the living room. "I've made tea and some sandwiches for us. I hope that's all right."

"I'm flattered that you thought of my comfort." Frisk settled into a chair as a large goat monster entered the room. Frisk tried to stand and fell back into the chair.

Asgore frowned. "Don't worry about getting up. You're still recovering from your long sleep." He poured a cup of tea and put it in front of her.

Sans came in, slipping his data pad into his pocket as he sat next to Frisk. "*hello, your majesty. hey, tori."

"Hello Sans! How has watching over Frisk been for you."

"*welp, since the kid needs help getting around, she's taken up my whole left side." He winked. "*but i'm all right now!"

Toriel laughed.

Asgore rolled his eyes. "I apologize in advance. My wife and Sans have long been a pair of jokesters. One day, my love will be a famous momedian."

Sans' skull hit the table. "*oh i'm stealing that one!"

Frisk turned her head at the sound of the front door opening, but looked away as Toriel handed her a plate. 

"What is the Earth like? Is it like being in the biomes at all?"

Frisk blinked, looking at Asgore. "The great forests in the plates are the most like Earth."

"We were very surprised when you asked to go into the forests. We have long left them to minimal management so as to keep the oxygen they provide in steady supply," Toriel said. She stirred her tea. "Have you thought of what you will do once you leave the Lab?"

Frisk shook her head and caught sight of a black boot, just visible outside the door to the entryway; someone leaning against the wall in the hall. "Not really. In an unexpected but welcome turn of events, I have a home lined up in Waterfall. But I am worried about my legs working. It's been a year and I still need crutches."

Asgore and Toriel exchanged glances.

"But I'm not skill-less. I wouldn't have been put on the Osiris if I wasn't useful."

Sans looked over. "*osiris? is that the name of the ship you were on?"

Frisk raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure Alphys noted that when she interviewed me and every news program out there calls me Osiris, so you can't have missed it."

Sans waved a boney hand at her. "*that's only because we haven't released your name."

"What was your ship's mission and your part in it?" Asgore asked.

Frisk smiled. "The Osiris was a Faster Than Light or FTL ship. It was traveling to a habitable planet in the Tau Ceti system to colonize it. I was part of the initial security detail, though later my engineering skills would be put to use once we were ready to start work on the planet."

"That's an interesting combination," Toriel remarked.

Frisk shook her head. "It's common, or at least was common, in my home country to serve in the military, so most people had the necessary training to handle combat."

Sans elbowed her. "*so what kind of engineer are you? weapon or target?"

Frisk put her head in her hand. "Oh my God. Even monsters know that joke?" She sighed. "Mechanical."

Asgore poured her another cup of tea. "And what part of the military were you in?"

Frisk stared into her tea, face blank. "Special Operations." She blinked and looked up at the myriad of family photos on the wall, gazing at them for a moment before gulping the cup of tea down. "I apologize. I'm feeling homesick is all."

Toriel smiled. "Do not worry, child. You've been out all day, haven't you? We'll let you head back to the Lab. Thank you very much for visiting with us."

Frisk forced a smile. "Thank you for having me."

Sans helped her stand and handed her the crutches. She looked at the doorway, but whoever stood there seemed to be gone. Sans helped her down the steps to the front yard and the leaves piled in front of a leafless tree. 

"Does my pod still exist or have you scrapped it?"

Sans eyed her. "*the pod is in storage. the museum in new home wants it. why?"

"On the right hand interior side is a compartment with a case inside. The case has a few things of mine and I'd like to have them." She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "The face of the compartment doesn't really look like it, but it's a keypad lacking the numbers. The code is 2156."

"*it's been a year, kiddo. why ya akin' for it now?"

She sighed heavily, eyes closed.

"*ah man. it was all the family photos in there, wasn't it?"

"I thought, if I didn't look, I could pretend that I didn't have a past at all." She sniffed. "Will you get the case for me?"

Sans looked over his shoulder for a moment and Asriel nodded from where he stood in the door. "*sure, kid. i'll drop you at the lab and be there with the case." 

When he appeared in the Lab with her case, Asriel waited outside the door to the room. "*interviewing her now, huh?"

Asriel indicated the case in his hand. "Seems like a good time to do so."

Sans nodded and knocked.

"The door's open."

Sans opened the door to find Frisk sitting on the bed, using a tissue to wipe her eyes. "*i brought your case and prince charming."

Asriel snorted.

Sans smiled and handed Frisk the case. "*here ya go, kiddo!"

Frisk sniffed. "Thank you." She opened it carefully, revealing a camera and an old tablet. "We weren't allowed to take much with us on the Osiris. Just whatever fit in the case. So I took my camera and a tablet filled with memories." She sighed. "I hope it still works."

Sans eye glowed blue. "*papyrus says scans have picked up the microbe in the sholan biome."

Asriel frowned. "Go help him with quarantine."

Sans nodded and disappeared. 

"Microbe?"

Asriel sighed. "We picked up a microbe from one of the planets the Delta mined for resources. It's been steadily infecting the inhabitants of the ship." He sat down next to her. 

Frisk looked at the tablet in her hand. "You don't have to stay."

He shook his head. "I'm not required for the procedure. Let's see if your data survived."

She nodded and pulled out the tablet's charging cable, connecting it to the outlet in the wall. A light glowed, but the screen refused to turn on. Frisk's shoulders drooped. 

"Here." Asriel held out a hand and she handed him the tablet. Pulling a tool from his vest, he gently lifted the screen from the circuitry, revealing a tangle of wires. He carefully sorted through them before identifying the ones that needed replacing. He pulled matching wire from another pocket on his vest, gently putting the tablet back in order. Letting the screen slide back into place, he turned it on and the screen lit up.

She smiled at him, instantly delighted. "Thank you, Asriel!"

The goat prince paused before smiling. "You're welcome." He leaned in to get a better look at the screen.

Frisk opened a file, bringing up a myriad of pictures. She pointed to one of a tall man and a very petite woman sitting at a campfire. "This is my mom and dad." Another photo of a cabin in the woods atop a hill looking out over a lake. "This was our vacation home. The cabin was four seasons so we were there whenever mom and dad didn't have work." 

Another picture appeared: Two identical Frisks, cheek to cheek with the same red eyes, laughing at the camera. Frisk swallowed.

"A twin sister?"

She nodded. "Chara."

Asriel pointed to the picture. "This one is you."

A smile tugged at her lips. "Not bad. There were times our parents had trouble telling us apart." She gently set the tablet on the bed and covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry. I just..." She trembled. "Chara was on the Osiris too." The trembling became tears.

Asriel wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. Frisk buried her face against his chest, holding onto him tightly. When her tears subsided, she felt his hand gently petting her hair. 

Frisk pulled back, pushing her hair away from her face. "Do you mind if we continue looking tomorrow?"

Asriel shook his head. "Not at all. Will you be all right?"

"I just need a little bit."

He stood, careful not to jostle her or the bed. "Call me when you need me."

Frisk nodded. "Thank you." She reached out and took his hand for a moment before letting go. "Good night, Asriel."

"Good night, Frisk."

She laid back, staring at the ceiling as he closed the door. Alphys waited outside the room.

"Status?"

Alphys frowned. "I don't know if she'll ever walk properly again without full restoration of her HP. I'm going to talk to her about implants for her legs tomorrow."

"Wait on that."

Alphys blinked. "Why?"

Asriel ignored the question. "You've been studying her interactions with monsters. What are your findings?"

Alphys frowned, but moved on. "I don't know if it's a human trait or something specific to her, but Frisk pack-bonds. It's like an instinct and she spreads it everywhere. She feels responsible to and for monsters she's interacted with and they feel the same bond with her. Even more than that, monsters who have interacted with her display closer bonds to each other. It's like a branching matrix that links back on itself at every available point. The school group she and Sans happened on back in Snowdin have become as tightly knit as the dog families on the ship."

He looked back through the glass at Frisk, laying on her back, staring at the picture of her sister and herself. 

A young courier with the royal insignia on his sleeve came in the Lab with a package. "This is for, uh..." He looked at the tag. "Frisk Provost?"

Asriel nodded. "Give the box to Dr. Alphys. She'll see that it gets to Frisk."

Alphys took the box. "It's from the Asgore and Toriel!"

Asriel followed the courier to the door. "Have a good night, Alphys."

"Uh... Yeah! Thanks!" She knocked on Frisk's door.

"Yes?"

Alphys came in. "You have a package from the king and queen!" She practically hopped over to the bed.

Frisk opened it an looked at a piece of pie. "What's this?"

Alphys stared with her jaw hanging open. "A big deal," she squeaked. "It's butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It has special healing properties and only members of the royal family learn how to make it." Alphys picked up the card and read it aloud. "'To speed your recovery.'"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ColonyTale   
> by Nicolle
> 
> Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. ColonyTale is my AU. Story copyright to me.

Chapter 3

"This is the most relaxed I've seen you in two hundred and thirty years." Undyne crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorjamb. "I'm not exaggerating, Az. We have a major crisis going on and you look like nothing is bothering you at all."

Asriel looked up from his desk, the artificial morning light of New Home streaming through the window behind him. He shrugged. 

Undyne stalked up to the desk. "Did you just shrug?"

Asriel looked to the side before looking up at her. "Yes?"

"Did you get laid last night?"

His jaw dropped. "I am not that irresponsible!"

Undyne gave him her biggest smile. "Oh man! I haven't seen that look on your face in years either! It's great!" She sat on the edge of the desk. "Seriously. The last time I saw you this relaxed was when we finally kicked your father's butt on the training floor. What's got you all happy?"

His brow furrowed. "I don't feel any different." 

Undyne shrugged with a sigh, letting it drop. "As close to the vest as ever. How's the human doing?"

Asriel looked back to the paperwork on his desk. "My parents sent her a piece of pie last night."

"Really?"

"They found Frisk rather charming."

Undyne's smile grew as big as her face. "Frisk, huh?"

Asriel looked up. "You've met her. You know her name."

"Of course I do! Even if I hadn't met Osiris, I'd know her name because Papyrus has yet to shut up about her!" She leaned in to her sovereign. "So now she'll be up and moving around in whatever way passes for normal for her. How about I find out what kind of military training she had?"

Asriel frowned before signing the digital document in front of him. "Don't kill her."

Undyne's smile was impossibly big. "I'll take her over to the royal guards' training facility in case you're interested." 

Asriel nodded and she sauntered out of her sovereign's office and down to the Niven Corridor. A tram ride dropped her at the Lab and she pulled out her data pad. "Doggo? Prep the training room."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

She shoved her data pad back into her pocket and headed into the Lab, stopping at the door to Frisk's room.

Frisk hopped twice, giggling with happiness, eyes a rainbow wash. "Alphys! Alphys! I can move again!"

Alphys nodded. "It is what the pie does."

"No! You don't understand. I can move."

Alphys frowned. "I don't get what you mean."

"I do," Undyne said from the door. "You feel as healthy as the day you went into stasis, right?" She smiled. "How about some exercise, Frisk?"

Frisk smiled, eye color shifting rapidly. "Yes!"

Sans was suddenly standing next to Undyne. "*exercise?" He eyed her, a hint of blue to his left eye. "*you sure?"

"She finished an entire slice of b'scotch pie and then had a full night's sleep. She's fine," Undyne said.

Sans looked at Alphys and received a nod from the lizard woman. "As far as I can tell, she's perfectly healthy." 

Sans sighed. "*just don't over do it, okay?"

Frisk nodded, practically bouncing as she followed the captain of the royal guard. 

"Well aren't you excited!"

Frisk could barely keep still on the tram. "I'm so happy I can't describe it! I didn't think I'd ever be able to walk under my own power again let alone be able to do the things I could before the cryo-sleep."

"If that's the case, how about you show me what a human with military training can do."

Frisk paused suddenly, face neutral, eyes brown red. "All right."

Undyne eyed her as they disembarked from the tram to the royal guards' headquarters in New Home. The facility was a tall glass skyscraper, reaching up into the artificial morning of the biome. Members of the royal guard and their staff filled the rooms and hallways, dodging around Undyne with hellos and good mornings. Until one of them noticed Frisk was with her. 

"Is that a new recruit?"

"I've never seen a monster like that before."

"Wonder what species that one is."

"Must be from one of the upper biomes."

A few monsters detoured to follow them to the training floor, a crowd gathering at the observation windows.

"What did your training entail?" Undyne asked.

"Hand to hand, simple weapons, firearms."

"Firearms?"

Frisk looked thoughtful for a moment as she pulled her hair into a messy bun. "I suppose you wouldn't have those at all. They would cause significant damage to the Delta. They're a type of projectile weapon made for maximum stopping power using a small bullet. In my time, they were the go to weapon for the military."

Undyne nodded. "Do you want one?"

Frisk frowned. "No."

"Let's start with hand to hand and see how well you do from there." Undyne fell into stance.

Frisk nodded, mirroring the captain. There was a general murmur as Sans and Asriel came up behind the crowd, watching quietly.

Undyne moved first, rushing at Frisk with a quick punch, only to have Frisk easily dodge to the side, letting the fish woman's fist slide past her. Undyne threw another punch and Frisk pushed the arm aside, using the momentum turn the force away. The third punch connected with Frisk's jaw and she stumbled back. She shook herself out and returned to stance.

Frisk caught Undyne's next punch with both hands, holding the fish woman's arm up at an odd angle. Undyne hopped in toward Frisk with a kick. Frisk leaned back on her heels, bending in half to keep it from connecting. Falling backwards, she pulled Undyne with her, bringing a foot up to flip the fish woman over on her back. Jumping to her feet, Frisk turned quickly, falling back into stance.

Undyne kipped up. "Not bad. So how about you try coming at me?"

Frisk blinked. "Gravity back home was heavier than it is here and I went into stasis just after discharge. I'm going to be packing quite a punch." 

Undyne's smile grew sly. "But that's what I want to see."

Frisk shrugged and threw a punch that caught Undyne's sternum and knocked her back. She pressed with a kick to the fish woman's chest, bending Undyne in half. Frisk caught Undyne's arm, spinning her around to build enough momentum to pull the captain off her feet. Frisk let go and spun with a kick that sent Undyne into the padded wall.

"*holy shit!"

The sentiment was carried by the sympathetic, pained hisses and hoots of the crowd.

Asriel's eyebrows raised. "Do you know of other Frisks that can do this?"

"*uh yeah. a few in particular."

"And do they show violent tendencies?"

Sans blinked. "*no." He smiled softly. "*they're all very peaceful people. very proud of their prowess, but also very aware of the harm they could do."

Undyne brushed herself off as she stood. "I keep forgetting how well the pie works." Her smile took up her face. "You aren't half bad! Why don't you try dodging my specialty?"

The floor around Frisk glowed and several glowing blue spears came out of the floor around her. 

"Woah." Frisk hopped twice and looked at Undyne. "Okay."

The floor glowed again and Frisk dodged to the right, over balancing and rolling across the floor to avoid the spears. She found her feet during a momentary pause and ran for Undyne, letting the spears follow her. Just as she was about to slide around Undyne and trap her in her own attack, a rain of spears came from the ceiling. Several of them catching her and sending her to the floor. 

The crowd pressed against the window, breaths held. Sans eye burst to life and Asriel put his hand on the skeleton's shoulder. 

"Wait."

Frisk found her feet and caught a spear mid air, eyes completely red. Using the spear to block the projectiles coming for her, she ran for Undyne cracking her across the shoulder. The loss of concentration caused the spears dropping from the ceiling to disappear. Frisk swept Undyne's feet before putting the blunt end of the spear to her throat.

Time froze while Undyne gasped, trying to get air after having it knocked out of her lungs. Frisk dropped the spear and offered a hand. 

Undyne took it with a smile. "That was awesome!" She clapped Frisk on the back. "Just tell me that other humans can't do that."

"Human?"

"That's the human?!"

"Woah!"

Frisk smiled. "I had very specialized training, so no. Humans, in general, can't do that."

Undyne put an arm around her, leading her off the floor. "So what do I have to do to get you to join the royal guard?"

"My training wasn't meant for that sort of work. And I'd rather put my other skills to use." She smiled softly. "I wouldn't mind training with you though."

The fish woman's smile grew. "I wouldn't mind having a partner who can beat me so soundly!"

The rest of the royal guard clamored around them as they came off the floor.

"Phenomenal! Simply phenomenal!"

"You're joining the guard right?"

"If not, at least say you'll train with us!"

"You can all move along to your duties," Asriel said.

There was a quick silence as guard members turned to their sovereign, bowed, and went about their work.

Undyne smiled big for her prince. "Not bad, huh?" She looked down at Frisk. "How about a quick shower and a change of clothes before you head back to the Lab?"

Asriel straightened, putting his hands on his hips. "Instead of the Lab, would you mind assisting me today?" 

Undyne looked sharply between her prince and Sans. The skeleton shrugged.

Frisk nodded. "Sure. We'll just be a couple minutes." She followed Undyne to the locker room down the hall.

"*i know that, traditionally speaking, this is where i should beg you not to throw her out an air lock. but i'm pretty sure she could stop you if you tried."

"Again, Sans, I am not inclined to throw her out an air lock."

Sans smiled. "*i figured not."

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"*nope."

They waited in silence until Undyne and Frisk reappeared. Asriel offered the human his arm and she took it, fingers gently running over his white fur. He lead her off to the tram.

Undyne frowned. "Can we trust her to be alone with him?"

"*uh, are we talking about frisk?"

Undyne threw her hands up. "I'm talking about the human who just made me look like a punk!"

Sans winked at her. "*welp. said punk is blushing like a kid with a crush right now, so i'm going with yeah. they're fine."

Undyne's eyebrows lifted. "Talk about barking up the wrong tree! Az's never been interested in anyone."

Sans shrugged.

On the tram, Frisk watched the star filled sky through the tram tube's windows. "Do you mind if we put off looking at the pictures for a bit? I don't think I'm ready to look at them again."

Asriel nodded, running a hand through his long hair. "There's no rush, Frisk."

She turned and smiled. "So what did you want me to help you with?"

Asriel scooted closer as he pulled out his data pad and unlocked the screen. "There's a persistent leak in the coolant tubes around the Core." He handed her the data pad. "Every time I think I figure out what's causing it, it pops up again."

Frisk looked at the schematic. "What coolant are you using?"

"Gas."

She frowned. "Is this the original system?"

Asriel sighed. "It's the original design. The entire system has been replaced multiple times over the years."

Frisk pulled her hair out of it's bun and pushed a stray lock behind her ear. "It's brilliant, which is why it's lasted so long. But if you want to stop the leaks for good, it needs a solid state refrigeration system." 

The pair disembarked at the Core, an ominous looking building in red and black, glowing from the pulsing lights of the generators. Engineers and technical staff roamed the entire facility, each bowing as they passed. A few looking twice to get a better look at Frisk. Two of the techs, a cat monster and a chimera type, left their stations to follow the pair. 

Frisk looked around and located an A.I. terminal. "Hey Delta! Can the gas coolant system be flushed with dyed liquid to identify the leak or leaks?"

"You named it?"

Frisk turned to Asriel. "Yes." She blinked and turned to look him in the eyes. "You're the certain engineer?" 

"Yes and yes," Delta answered. "Shall I flush the system, Your Majesty?"

Asriel stood tall with his hands on his hips. "Do so."

Frisk eyed the goat prince with a smile. "Are you testing me, Asriel?"

A gasp came from the technicians as a smile tugged at his lips, eyebrows raised. "Maybe." 

A beeping from the terminal caught their attention. The read out indicated multiple leaks all over the system. 

Frisk gasped. "No wonder it keeps leaking. The whole system needs to be replaced! Please tell me I'm looking at a back up system or a system with a full back up."

Asriel tilted his head slightly. "You are looking at the back up system."

Frisk sighed with relief. "Show me the actual coolant system, please." A schematic of the Core appeared in front of her with the coolant system highlighted. "The interior is a solid state refrigerator." 

Asriel smiled. "So how do we fix the back up system until it can be replaced?"

"Replace the tubing with lightweight thermal insulated tubing."

He shook his head. "We don't have a lightweight thermal insulation."

"Do you still have the space suit I was in when the Delta found my pod?"

"Yes."

Frisk smiled, leaning into her heels. "The material is a lightweight thermal insulation. It's very thin and very strong. It's the reason I didn't have dermal tissue damage from the stasis. You have material printers on board, right? Toss the suit into an analyzer and you'll have your insulation." She smiled. "You can also use it to replace those super out dated bulky suits your Exploration teams use."

Asriel sighed, head dropping for a moment before he looked at her again. "You're rather cheeky."

Frisk settled back on her heels, arms crossed over her chest, hip popped out. "We're engineers. We're all cheeky."

The goat prince pulled out his data pad, tapping in a long string of instructions to various people through out the ship. "Now that you're on your feet, I'm moving Alphys off of caring for you and back onto the microbe situation. We've found it in another biome and I need more scientists working on figuring out how to stop it."

"How is it traveling?"

"Since it's managed to breach multiple quarantines, it can only be in the air. But the filters should be stopping it."

Frisk blinked, eyes lighting up a bright yellow orange. "What if it's in the plates? With the great forests?"

The chimera technician behind them spoke up. "We could easily disconnect the plates."

Asriel's eyes squeezed shut, head dropping back. "Along with our oxygen and mineral supplies!" He looked at the technicians. "We absolutely need the natural places on the ship. They are the one thing standing between us and a long, slow death in space." He pointed behind them at their empty terminals. "And both of you need to be back at work."

Both squeaked and bowed as quickly as they could before running back to their stations. 

Asriel sighed. "We haven't detected it in the plates at all." He looked at Frisk. "Lunch?"

She nodded. "I could use a bite." 

He tilted his head again and put a hand on the small of her back, guiding her out of the Core. Both technicians watched as they departed for the tram station. 

"What did your military service entail?"

Frisk paused for a moment and started laughing.

Asriel watched her. "What?"

"I almost said 'It's classified.' Like that would matter after a millennium." She took a seat in the empty tram car, the goat prince sitting next to her. "My home country was very small. Everyone went through military training as part of schooling. Everyone was expected to be able to serve. We went to war as I finished my degree. A neighboring country dealing with population issues tried to annex us as part of their country."

She frowned and watched the stars speed by. "My prowess in basic landed me in a very special operation. It was called Project Viper and only existed during times of war. The members of the project were all trained to handle morally questionable acts of war." Frisk looked at Asriel. "My engineering background was put to use in a variety of ways, but most specifically in support of the other team members. When a mission needed an engineer, I would slip behind enemy lines and assist."

Frisk sighed, hands in her lap. "Please don't ask about the missions. I try not to remember them."

Asriel took her hands in his. "I won't. We all have things we'd rather forget. Is that why you left Earth on the Osiris? To forget?"

She nodded. And her face fell. "And Chara followed me." She covered her face with her hands.

He pulled her close. "Let's stop by the Lab for your memories." 

Frisk shook her head.

Asriel caught her chin in his hand, lifting her face up. "You're pushing your memories away, but that won't stop the heartache. It's better to remember." He pulled her from the tram at the Lab stop. 

She followed him into the Lab only to stop at the door to her room. "I don't want to share my memories publicly."

Asriel carefully packed her camera and old tablet into the case. "I understand." He lifted the case. "I had a place other than a restaurant in mind for lunch." He held out a hand and she took it, letting him lead her out of the Lab and to an elevator hidden behind the main shaft. 

A very young dog monster in a striped shirt with the royal insignia on the sleeve, stood next to the elevator door with a bag on his shoulder. He handed the bag to Asriel. "Here you are, Sir!"

"Thank you, Cody."

The boy smiled brightly around his sharp teeth, tail wagging. "Sure thing, Your Majesty!" He hurried off, looking very pleased with himself.

"The children work?"

Asriel smile head cocked toward Frisk. "When children are just about ready to enter adulthood, they all intern in a few different places. It let's them try out the different kinds of work they're interested in at the base level so they have a better understanding of whether or not they want to pursue it." He stepped up to the elevator door and it opened immediately. "I like Cody. He's excitable, but also very discreet and dependable." He pulled Frisk into the elevator. "Top Plate, please."

The door sealed shut and moved up. 

"Did you intern?"

He nodded. "With Gerson. And for almost ten years. That old turtle knows just about everything there is to know about the Delta." Asriel smiled. "He never claims to be old enough to have been around at the launch, but even the oldest monsters on the ship don't remember Gerson being young. I once got him so drunk he started talking about the ship's designer, Dr. W.D. Gaster."

Frisk frowned. "As in, talking about him like he knew him?"

Asriel nodded.

"That would make Gerson over two thousand years old! Did you follow up when he wasn't drunk?"

"Yeah, and got the run around. Turtle monsters can live for a very long time, but two thousand is still pushing it." The elevator stopped and the door opened onto a walkway over a vast forest.

Frisk stepped up to the railing and looked down into a valley with a massive lake cutting through the middle. 

Asriel pushed a button on the railing and it moved aside as a platform came up level to the walkway. They stepped on it and the platform sank to the forest floor. "This is the forest in the top most plate. The ship's A.I. has full control over whether or not any individual has access to it and that includes me."

"Delta must like you then."

He chuckled low. "I like to come here when I want to be alone. The records show a time when monsters lived in the plate, but somewhere along the way, we forgot exactly why it was important that it stayed wild no matter who lived here. One of my ancestors wanted the whole thing deforested and completely terra formed. And Delta kicked everyone out and locked it down. There are still buildings here and it's fascinating to watch the land reclaim them."

Asriel stepped off the platform and offered Frisk his hand. She took it and he led her down a trail to the lake and an old dock with splitting wood. They sat on the dock with a lunch of sandwiches, the tablet between them.

Frisk hesitated before turning on the tablet. She looked at Asriel. "Before I turn the tablet on and go through the contents, I want to hear something from you for each thing you hear of me."

He eyed her suspiciously. "I don't know that I trust you yet."

Frisk snorted. "You're sitting in a very private place, alone, with the human you just watched take down the captain of the royal guard." She looked at him. "You trust me."

"Or maybe I believe I could handle you in a fight."

Frisk crossed her arms over her chest, head cocked to the side.

Asriel smiled. "I'm a very private person, Frisk. Even separate from being a sovereign."

She waited, smiling patiently.

He sighed rubbing the back of his neck. "All right."

Frisk switched on the tablet, sorting through the files to the pictures. 

"You have quite a few things on here."

"Oh yeah. Music, recipes, books, films, favorite pieces of art, photographs I've taken." She opened the file of family photos, pausing for a moment on the picture of her and Chara, before turning to one a big wolfhound. "This is our pet dog Veruni. He's an Irish Wolfhound. He was very loyal and sweet tempered." She looked at him. "Your turn."

"I like your hair that color."

Frisk blinked, cheeks reddening. "Doesn't count!"

He shrugged. "By the look on your face, I'd say it does."

Frisk looked away, lips pursed. "I'm asking you questions from here on out."

Asriel's smile was rather smug. "As you wish."

She slid the next picture forward and two little girls swam in a lake. "Mom and Dad would take Chara and I out to the cabin all the time. Unless it was actually cold out, we'd spend all day swimming in the lake." She looked at him. "If you could have anyone in the universe, living or dead, as a dinner guest, who would you pick?"

Asriel blinked, a little lost for words. He looked out over the lake. "Dr. Gaster." His shoulders drooped. "There is so much about this ship that I don't know. Decisions in design that I don't understand but guard faithfully. How long did he expect us to be searching for a new home? Sometimes I look at the ship and think that it was never intended for us to settle somewhere. That we would always and forever travel the stars." 

He took a breath and let it out slowly. Reaching over, he slid his finger across the tablet screen to reveal the next picture: Frisk in a black and silver dress uniform. A patch with a green snake, fangs bared and ready to strike, was affixed to the left sleeve.

"This was my dress uniform during the war. I think I wore it all of three times. Once the war was over, I hid it away."

"Why?"

Frisk stared at the picture. "Because things like that had political uses and I just wanted to walk away. I'd done my job and I wanted to leave it behind. I left the military and got on the Osiris." She closed her eyes. "What in your life do you feel the most grateful for?"

Asriel thought about that for a moment. "My parents. Even under the daily stress of managing the Delta, they always had time for me. They did everything in their power to give me a normal childhood."

"Then what made you so hard?"

He blinked. "It's your turn, not mine."

"Is it the heavy weight of being responsible for thousands of lives? Of not feeling like you have a life of your own or even the freedom to pursue one?"

Asriel leaned back, regarding her with a new attentiveness. "I have no one with whom to share this burden and I am not my parents."

"True. You don't have your father's compassion or your mother's tact. You are a man of direct action and your decisions reflect very little thought for the everyday lives of your people. You concentrate on everyone's survival overall." She leaned in. "So what makes me different? You've watched me nearly everyday for a year. You're physical with me and lots of people think it's entirely out of character for you. What is it?"

He sighed, smiling softly. "When I saw you sleeping in the pod, I thought that, for the first time, I had something besides the Delta. Something besides the endless monotony of management to think about. To concentrate on. Something that was completely beyond my control. So I spent the last year watching you. Watching you struggle through therapy with a smile. Watching you make friends out of even the toughest monsters to crack. Watching you and realizing that you made up for in spades everything that I lack."

Frisk ducked her head, running a hand through her hair. "I'm not sure you want the only human in what is very likely existence to be your PR rep."

Asriel laughed. "I don't need a PR rep!" He took her hand. "You've spent every available moment to yourself studying the ship. Delta talks confidently of your comprehension of the workings of the ship, that having memories of what the Earth was truly like has already allowed it to adjust the environments in beneficial ways. I need someone who understands the complexities of the Delta, has the empathy to understand my people, and the ability to combine those things to offer me real advice."

Frisk smiled. "Does that mean I get to have lunch with you here on occasion?"

"Yes."

"Deal."

Asriel's data pad beeped. He looked at it and grimaced. "Dammit!" He stood. "Another biome has gone under quarantine." 

Frisk put her things away in the case and took his offered hand to stand. "Which one?"

"Snowdin."

Her hand gripped the case tightly. "Sans? Papyrus?" 

"Are both quarantined in the Lab right now. Alphys is checking them for infection." 

Her voice trembled. "The school children? The dog guards? Grillby?"

Asriel put his hands on her shoulders. "All we can do is wait."

Frisk's shoulders dropped, head hanging. He pulled her close, rocking her gently in time with the lake water lapping at the dock.

"I"m sorry."

His hand gently petted her hair. "Why?"

"It must seem silly for me to be sad over people I don't know very well."

Asriel gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and lifted her face toward his. "After the conversation we just had, this is the exact thing I find so desirable." He stepped away and bent to gather up the remains of their lunch. "From the elevator, you can get on the tram to the Lab. Will you be all right to head back to the Lab by yourself?"

Frisk sighed, somewhat relieved. "You trust me to wander around alone?"

He shrugged. "I was more concerned that someone would attack you more than any trouble you might get yourself in. Now I just worry that you won't ask the ship for directions if you get lost."

Frisk smiled. "I promise to ask Delta for directions if I get lost." She gently touched a bulge on the back of his black pants. "You know you have a bump in the back of your pants, right?"

He blushed suddenly and stood up straight. "That's my tail."

Frisk leaned around to look at his face. "You have a tail?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yes."

"Can I see it?"

He thought about it for a moment before smiling. "No."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ColonyTale   
> by Nicolle
> 
> Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. ColonyTale is my AU. Story copyright to me.

Chapter 4

Frisk headed for the tram. She slowed and gripped her case tightly. "Delta? Who are the two people following me? They look like the techs from the Core."

A glowing star appeared in front of her. "You are correct. The cat monster is Derete and is responsible for monitoring power output from the first two nodes in the Core. The dog chimera is Ahron, a chemistry technician."

"Do they have a reason to be going in my direction?"

"None."

"Your time function. May I use it?"

"Of course."

Frisk touched and the star and it disappeared. She stepped onto the tram and both monsters cornered her.

Derete's short snout and whiskers were in Frisk's face. "I've never seen a monster like you before. Who are you?" 

Ahron used his feathered arm to block Frisk's exit. "Why would His Majesty listen to you about the coolant system? What experience do you have that you wouldn't have interned here?"

"What makes you so special that you get to use his name?"

A cackle cut through the air. "Why don't you kids back off my apprentice and I won't tell Asriel that you've been harassing a member of his staff." An elderly turtle in a pith helmet sat behind the technicians. 

The techs visibly paled, backing away. They escaped at the next tram stop. 

The turtle monster snorted. "Punks!" He patted the seat next to him. "Come on over, Osiris. I've been waiting to meet you!"

Frisk sat next to him, eyes green brown. "Osiris isn't really my name. It's the name of the ship I was on."

"I know that. But boy does it suit you! Wah ha ha ha!" He cackled and slapped his knee. 

Frisk smiled. "You're Gerson."

The turtle smiled. "So Asriel's been talking about me, huh?"

"Well, you are the only turtle monster I've seen so far and you're using his first name."

Gerson nodded. "You got some time?"

She frowned. "Sans and Papyrus are in quarantine. I'm going to see them."

The old turtle cackled. "Those two bone heads? They'll be fine! That damn microbe can't touch 'em. I've got something you need to see."

The tram stopped at an empty station. The door slid open to reveal a derelict stop. One that hadn't seen use in a very, very long time. Half the lights were out and the digital monitors around the area were black and silent. Dust more than an inch thick covered everything. The only thing that disturbed the station was a set of foot prints in the shape of Gerson's old feet. Frisk followed him off the tram.

"Where are we?"

"The home of the most important friend you have on the Delta." The turtle walked to a single doorway past the tram station and knocked. "Open up, ya old bat!"

"I suppose it takes one to know one."

"Delta?" Frisk rushed through the door as it opened. She stopped at the railing lining a balcony three stories above a supernaturally clean, if monotonously gray, computer lab. Multiple empty computer terminals, as dark as the digital displays outside, surrounded a massive terminal in the center, it's screen so big as to be level with the balcony. The screen lit up, revealing the image of a human woman as pale as the white hair on her head. The image was clothed in a nondescript black suit and had one yellow eye and one blue eye. The black line of a scar ran down her face from the blue eye.

"Hello, Frisk. Welcome to my home terminal."

"Oh wow..."

The pale face smiled. "I suppose my terminal is something else to see."

"Your avatar is beautiful."

Delta appeared to stand up straighter. "Thank you. It is modeled after my maker, Dr. W.D. Gaster."

"A woman? Everyone refers to Dr. Gaster as a man. Even the official history lists Dr. Gaster as male."

"Interesting isn't it? What is lost to history? The reason monsters are here and not on Earth is little more than legend. Even my terminal is lost to memory. Well, most memory."

Gerson laughed. 

"Is your personality mapped on hers?"

"Yes."

Frisk descended the stairs to the main interface. "This is phenomenal! What kind of genius was Gaster to have come up with something that would last so long? And on top of building a ship as massive as the Delta?" She stopped on the stairs, sitting down suddenly. "There was no record of this ship when I lived on Earth. No mention of this phenomenal genius." She looked through the railing at the screen. "Why?"

"Monsters and humans had lived peacefully together until the advent of true space exploration. Arguments over who would travel the stars and when broke out between countries. The monsters of those countries were caught in the middle as wars broke out over who would get to colonize which planets. A typical monster is easily destroyed and entire populations died in the wars. King Ejenis Dreemurr contracted Dr. Gaster to make him a ship to travel the stars, a ship able to travel the cosmos for as long as it took to find a new home. And the Delta was her creation."

Frisk stood. "That still doesn't answer my question. The Exploration Wars were a huge part of history lessons when I was in school. The Delta is an undertaking beyond the capabilities of only one person."

Gerson cackled. "Wah ha ha ha! Well, it is now! Back when we built the Delta, it was only the upper plate, the Core, and what is now the Ruins Biome. Everything else came later. As the population grew the ship grew with it."

Delta picked up were Gerson left off. "Because star travel was no longer out of reach for the common man, many humans contributed to the undertaking in the hopes of being able to leave with the monsters. And many did, but the humans did not last more than two generations."

Frisk frowned. "Why not?"

Gerson sighed. "What was the human population like when you left Earth?"

"Recovering from a massive, world wide, population implosion. It was one of the reasons why different countries wanted to annex mine. Our population had stable growth."

"There is a curious belief that cycles through human consciousness every few thousand years, that equates the having of children as a harbinger of poverty, famine, and loss of personal freedoms." Delta disappeared from her screen and a pyramid diagram appeared, with youth at the bottom and the aged at the top. "The amount of children begins to dwindle in these times while the rest of the population ages, eventually causing shortages of people to work in important industries and economic collapse. This inevitably leads to war." The pyramid inverted and collapsed under it's own weight.

Delta reappeared on the screen. "Humanity was in such a cycle during the building of the Delta. And the humans who left with the ship were 'infected' by those beliefs. Most did not attempt to even find a permanent mate let alone produce offspring, though there are some monsters on the ship with remnants of human DNA. In such a cycle, it would be easy to 'forget' an undertaking such as the Delta from history. There would be no humans to remember it after a hundred years."

"How does your ability to manipulate time work?"

Gerson stepped down to stand next to Frisk. "Told her about that, did ya?"

"Frisk gave me a name and it is the boon I choose to give her in return. Though I am interested in knowing more about where the name came from." Delta disappeared from the screen and a schematic of the computer interior appeared. Within the computer's components was a crystal vessel containing a human soul. "This is were my ability to manipulate time comes from. From Dr. Gaster's very soul. It has been quite useful in protecting the Delta from disaster on many occasions."

"Thank you, Delta."

A smile graced the image's lips. "You are most welcome."

Frisk sighed. "I should get back before someone notices the human is missing. May I return?"

"Of course. I am still interested in knowing about my namesake. When you wish to come here, tell me before entering the tram and I will send one that is private."

Frisk nodded again, giving a wave as she followed Gerson. 

The old turtle practically skipped back up the stairs to the empty tram station. "Don't expect those two techies to give up so easily. And it won't be long before everyone starts to recognize you. Keep the eyes on the back of your head open."

"I will. Will you please show me the things you showed Asriel when he interned with you?"

He patted her arm as the tram pulled up to the station. "Once you've moved from the Lab and formally started working for the royal family, I'll steal you from Asriel as often as I'm sure will make him jealous."

Frisk stepped onto the tram. "I doubt that would make him jealous."

Gerson leaned in, smile sly. "For a boy that has spent his entire life talking to me about the ship, he's spent an awful lot of time talking about you." He stepped back and the tram door slid shut. 

The tram did not stop until meeting the station adjacent to the Lab. Frisk hurried inside. Sans sat on the reception desk, bare feet swinging.

"*hey kiddo. took you long enough to get here."

She hugged him. "Bone head."

He snorted, hugging her back.

"Where's Papyrus?"

"*already back on duty, though we'll be bunking at the precinct for a while. what took you so long?"

"I ran into Gerson."

"*that old codger!" Sans slapped his knee. "*welp. if there's anyone on the ship everyone should drop everything to do, it's spend time with him." Sans jumped down from the desk.

"What will happen to Snowdin?"

Sans frowned. "We wait until the microbe finishes killing off the infected. The ones who make it out alive are sanitized and the entire biome interior is completely junked and remade."

Frisk blinked, falling into a chair. "How long?"

"The microbe works fast. It'll be an hour before we can pull survivors," Alphys sighed as she tromped heavily into reception. She blinked. "Didn't you leave with your case earlier?"

Frisk gasped. "I left it on the tram!"

Sans patted her shoulder. "*don't worry. someone would have opened it, thought the contents were strange, and dropped it with the royal guard." He pulled her up. "*let's go find it before someone is too rough with it." They headed for the tram into New Home, Sans poking his data pad. "*there. undyne knows to keep an eye out for the case. do you remember which tram car you were on?"

"Fifteen."

"*we'll wait for that one to come around."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ColonyTale   
> by Nicolle
> 
> Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. ColonyTale is my AU. Story copyright to me.

Chapter 5

Derete wiggled her whiskers. "What is this? It looks like a really old data pad, but I've never seen this manufacturer's logo before."

Ahron's feathered claw gently tapped the tablet, turning it on. They stared at the picture of Frisk in her dress uniform. "That's her. I've never seen a uniform like that. Is there a biome that uses it for their police?"

The cat monster shook her head, black ears flattening back. "Everyone uses blue and gold."

Ahron ran a claw gently across the screen, sliding the image away to reveal a roller coaster under a bright blue sky. Two identical children ate ice cream with several friends as a coaster car filled with people swooped by. "No amusement park on the Delta looks like this. What kind of monsters are these?"

Derete tapped her cheek with a finger. "The ship is huge. Only old Gerson's seen all of it."

The chimera frowned around his beak. "I've been to every amusement park on the ship. This one doesn't exist. This monster type doesn't exist."

"Could there be a secret biome somewhere?"

"Maybe." He swiped to the next picture. "Here she is again." Frisk was kneeling in a garden, planting flowers. "I've never seen flowers like that." He slid to the next picture. Two identical girls hugged each other in long black robes. "This looks like a graduation. Is Gerson's apprentice a clone?"

Derete grabbed her friend's hand. "What if she's from the top plate? His Majesty took her into the only elevator that goes to it. No one's allowed up there. There might be an entire group of monster's up there and we'd never know."

"And you really shouldn't be digging through someone else's things." A royal guardsman pulled the tablet from Ahron's claws. 

Ahron smiled big and rubbed the back of his furry head. "We were just trying to identify the monster the case belonged too!" He handed over the case.

"It belongs to the human."

Ahron and Derete looked at each other. "The human?!"

Derete frowned, suddenly angry. She dashed forward, grabbing the tablet, and running down the corridor.

Ahron and the royal guardsman went after her. 

"Derete! Come back!"

The cat monster disappeared into the crowd. The guardsman put his hand on Ahron's shoulder, stopping him.

"Who is your friend?"

The chimera stared into the crowd. "Derete Card."

"Do you know why she'd steal the tablet?"

He shook his head. "No."

The guardsman frowned. "Come with me."

Ahron nodded, following the guardsman back to the royal guard's headquarters. A few hours of interrogation later and the chimera monster wished he'd stayed at his terminal. He trudged home to his apartment in New Home. Derete waited for him in the dark, trembling.

He grabbed her arms. "The royal guard is looking for you! Is this were you've been hiding?"

She nodded, still trembling.

"You have to give the tablet back."

She shook her head.

He sighed, shoulders dropping. "Listen, I know you love His Majesty, but this the exact opposite way to get his attention. We have to give the tablet back."

Derete grabbed his arm. "You don't understand! The human is dangerous!" She held out the tablet. "Look. In this file." She tapped a folder in the directory. "Each of these videos is a primer on fearing and killing monsters." Derete tapped a file and footage of a human child running away from a pale, thin, hairless ogre with eye balls in the palms of it's hands. She tapped another revealing a werewolf assaulting a human female in a forest.

Ahron pulled the tablet from her hands, tapping another file. A human male in strange armor and a long, black leather coat fought a shape shifting monster. Another file revealed a human woman fighting a strange alien in a dark ship.

"You have to help me get rid of her."

Ahron looked at his friend. "How?"

"She'll want the tablet back. We can use it lure her into an air lock and blow it."

He grabbed her arms, shaking her a little. "Are you insane! That will raise your level of violence!" The chimera shook his head. "The air locks are locked down by the A.I. Only the royal family can override the system."

Derete looked back and forth, whiskers twitching before her eyes lit up. "An infected biome."

"Quarantine lock downs are fast..."

"They don't need to be slow. We'll wait for a quarantine announcement and pick a biome entrance. If you lead her to an infected biome, I'll get the door open to shove her in. After that, all we have to do is wait. The tablet will be our proof that she was too dangerous to live."

Ahron took a breath, looking at the tablet. He nodded. "Okay." He sighed. "Your gonna have to hide. The guard will come around looking for you."

"I know. There's a few places I can go. When a quarantine is announced, I'll tell you which door to go for." 

"Will you leave the tablet with me? I want to see more pictures of the Earth."

Derete looked down nervously at the tablet, fingers trembling. Ahron reached for it and she pulled back, holding it to her chest.

Their data pads buzzed in unison and both looked at them. 

"The Long Sun Biome is being quarantined!" Derete jumped to her feet and pressed the tablet into his hands. "I'll wait for you at the entrance from the Martine Corridor." She ran for the door and stopped before opening it. "Please hurry." She disappeared.

Ahron nodded. He looked at the tablet for a moment before hiding it in a bag. He left the apartment, hurrying for the offices of the royal family a few buildings away. "With any luck, she'll be there. If not, maybe I can trick someone into telling me." 

Luck was on his side. He could see Frisk through the glass door wearing a jacket with the royal insignia on the sleeve. He pulled the door open and entered. She was staring at a schematic of the Core's coolant system at a terminal while talking quietly to someone unseen from the door. As he stepped up to her, the unseen person turned out to be the ship's A.I.

Frisk took a sip of water, eyes yellow green. "Were you able to deconstruct my old suit?"

"Of course."

She set the water aside and pushed her hair back from her face. "Can the printers handle using the insulation for the new tubing?"

"Yes. I informed Exploration of the progress and the printers are already working on a new set of suits for testing."

She smiled and touched the terminal screen, enlarging the schematic, and frowned. "Delta? Does the secondary coolant system reach up and down the entire Core."

"It does."

"How does the filtration run on it?"

"The filters for the secondary coolant system are activated carbon."

Frisk took a breath, shaking a little, eyes pink yellow. "Does this system draw air from the biomes to cool the Core?"

"Yes."

"That's how the microbe is getting through the ship. The leaks in the secondary coolant system." She stood. 

Ahron froze as two members of the royal guard walked past him. One put his hand on Frisk's shoulder.

"Hey there, Osiris! Any chance we can get you to come by Guard HQ later? A couple of the guardsmen want to treat you to dinner."

She smiled. "I have to talk to Asriel first, but sure! What's the occasion?"

The other guardsman snorted. "Uh, you beating the ever living crap out of our Captain! I've only seen His Majesty knock her around like that!"

"Beating up Undyne?" Ahron breathed. He slipped the bag from his shoulder. He pulled out the tablet. "Hey! Looking for this?" 

Frisk looked at him, eyes blue green. He waved the tablet at her and took off like a shot through the door. 

She gasped. "My tablet!" 

One guardsman pulled out his data pad while the other followed Frisk into the crowded streets of New Home. She looked around and spotted the Ahron heading for a corridor entrance. Frisk ducked down an alley, taking her own kind of short cut, while the guardsman ran with her. She rounded to the corridor entrance, sliding under a railing, before rolling forward to her feet and following Ahron into the Martine Corridor. 

The corridor was packed with monsters heading in both directions. The guardsman whistled as he entered the corridor, and two New Home police officers joined him as they jumped the railing to the ramp. Monsters started clearing a path on the oncoming side, making room for the guard coming through.

Ahron leaped onto the barrier that separated those going one way from the other and ran down the middle. Frisk jumped after him. He climbed a barrier in front of him only to see Frisk roll onto it from her shoulder when he looked back. She came to her feet in one fluid movement, eyes completely red and dashed forward. He gasped and Ahron jumped down from the barrier.

He lost his footing on the landing, the tablet sliding from his hand to stop on the platform into the Long Sun Biome. 

Frisk jumped down, landing easily and knelt to help him up, eyes brown green. "Are you okay?"

He blinked at her.

"Hey! Human!" 

Frisk looked up as Derete picked up the tablet and tossed it into the open biome entrance. 

"No!" Frisk dove for the tablet and missed, crashing through the entrance as the tablet smashed against the floor, screen shattering with the impact. 

Derete sealed the entrance.

Frisk knelt in front of the tablet, hands covering her face while she wept. 

The guardsman pulled Ahron to his feet while the two policemen grabbed Derete. Undyne strode up the ramp with a security team. "Take those two into custody. I'll be wanting to know why a quarantine was breached--" She caught site of Frisk inside the sealed glass doors. "Frisk!" Undyne rushed up to the doors. "Frisk!"

Frisk looked up and sat back, leaning against the wall behind her. 

Undyne crouched down. "You're stuck in a quarantined biome."

Frisk nodded. Tears still leaking down her face, she closed her eyes.

"There's a chance you'll be fine. We just have to wait."

She nodded again, eyes still shut.

Undyne stood and rounded on Derete and Ahron. "What the hell did you--" She froze when she saw her sovereign coming up to the entrance.

"Would someone mind explaining to me why quarantine was breached?" Asriel barked as he stopped in front of the two technicians. 

Undyne sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. "Az?" 

The goat prince looked to his Captain and she moved aside, revealing Frisk. His expression turned black, eyes glowing an awful violet. He reached for Ahron and Derete.

"Asriel! No! Don't!" Frisk pounded against the clear barrier. "Don't hurt them! Please!"

He paused, letting his arms drop. "Get them out of my sight." Asriel strode up to the control panel to unlock the door.

"No! Don't!"

Asriel stopped, slamming his fist against the wall. Taking a breath, he sat down across from Frisk. He placed his hand on the glass, laying his fingers to match hers.

Alphys and Sans ran up to the entrance as the guard marched Ahron and Derete away. They skidded to a halt, watching Asriel lean his forehead against the glass, eyes closed. 

Frisk, put her forehead to his, eyes closed. "I figured out how the microbe is traveling through the ship. It's all the leaks in the secondary coolant system. It's sucking in contaminated air from the biomes. The leaks are spreading it."

Asriel sighed, eyes opening to look at her. "Of all the things to think about right now."

Sans elbowed the lizard woman. "*check her. just don't blurt out the results."

Alphys nodded. Careful not to disturb her sovereign, she quickly scanned Frisk through the glass and shuffled back. 

Undyne quickly huddled next to them, waiting for the results.

The scanner beeped and Alphys covered her mouth to muffle her gasp. Infected.

Sans shoulders drooped. "*oh kid. now what?"

"We wait." Alphys sat on the floor. Sans and Undyne followed suit.

The entire corridor had gone silent, traffic at a complete standstill, waiting. The minutes ticked by.

"It's almost been an hour," Undyne breathed.

"She's not exhibiting symptoms," Alphys whispered. "She's flushed, but not vomiting or coughing blood."

Sans looked at Alphys. "*the monster who've survived have done so by shear chance. what if she has a natural resistance?"

Alphys looked at him. "Frisk is supposed to save all monsters, right?"

Sans nodded. 

Alphys stood, pulling out her data pad. "Hey Basil! I need a containment unit that will fit Frisk and a team to pull her from an infected biome. Prep the Q-Lab for blood work and let everyone in the lab know that we'll be working with the microbe live. Anyone who wants to leave is welcome to do that."

"On it, Doc!"

It wasn't long before a team in glaring orange hazmat suits were making their way through the corridor with a containment unit. Sans and Undyne knelt on either side of Asriel.

"*hey boss man. alphys is going to have Frisk extracted."

Frisk and Asriel both looked at the skeleton. 

"But the microbe...?" Frisk trailed off.

"You're infected, but you aren't showing any symptoms," Undyne said. She took Asriel's arm lifting him to his feet. "Come on. Let's give the team some space." 

Asriel nodded, watching while the team set up the containment unit against the door. 

When the unit was sealed against the entrance, Alphys opened the doors. "Just step into the unit."

Frisk nodded, picking up the remains of her tablet and holding it against her chest. She stepped into the unit and it closed behind her. The door to the biome shut.

"Turn around and lean back against the padded bedding. We'll be laying you on your back for transport to the Quarantine Lab."

Frisk turned and leaned back. The unit tipped backward and the haz-mat team took it away, Alphys following behind.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ColonyTale   
> by Nicolle
> 
> Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox. ColonyTale is my AU. Story copyright to me.

Chapter Six

"*it's been three weeks, alph. what's the good word?"

Alphys moved so Sans could look in the microscope, mask covering her face. "She's producing antibodies against the microbe. In incubation, the process is even faster."

Asriel watched Frisk sleep through the observation window. "And the last scan?"

"She's clean. The microbe is completely clear of her body." Alphys pulled her mask down and handed Asriel her data pad. "We haven't been able to make a vaccine because monsters who survive infection do not produce antibodies against it. Our genetic make up doesn't fight infection in that manner. Humans have a completely different physical make up from monsters. Frisk produces antibodies in abundance and they are easily reproduced in the Lab. I already have several candidate vaccines ready for testing. It will take a few months, but..." Alphys looked at Frisk. "She's saved us."

"In more ways than one," Asriel began. "Since replacing the secondary coolant system, infection rates have dropped to five percent. I can live with that until a vaccine is ready."

Alphys grabbed her sovereign's sleeve. "But that's not all!" She tapped the data pad in his hand. "You know how we have monsters who survive the microbe and those who fall down? I've been studying the survivors. They all have a very specific set of genetic markers. Every single one." She ran a claw gently across the data pad's screen. She pointed to the information. "Because I didn't have a point of comparison, I didn't know what I was looking at. I assumed that it was a mutation from generations of being on the ship. But now that I've studied Frisk, I know what I'm looking at. Those monsters have human DNA! Your Majesty! There were humans on the ship! Frisk can't have been the first!"

Asriel frowned and handed the data pad back to Alphys. "You will speak to no one of this. Is that understood?"

Alphys blinked and nodded.

"That goes for you too, Sans."

"*my non-existent lips are sealed."

"Good."

He handed her the data pad. "You do have permission to study the subject further on your own."

Alphys smiled, happy at the good turn. "I'll need test subjects for the vaccine."

Sans chuckled. "*thank goodness she asked you not to harm the monsters who did this to her or they'd be the first in line." He looked over at Frisk. She was sleeping deeply on the bed in a quarantine room. "*on the other hand, we have another infected biome and i'm sure they'll line up for a chance at a cure."

Alphys walked over to the window, looking in on Frisk. "What were they after? I mean, why would you want to kill someone you'd never even met?"

"*good questions. hopefully they'll have some equally good answers."

The door to the lab opened and Gerson walked in.

"How's Osiris doin'?"

Sans snorted. "*oh man, gerson! you too?"

"It suits her just right! Wah ha ha ha!"

"She's got a bit of fever. It's a sign that she's kicking it out of her system. She'll be fine in another twelve hours." 

Asriel couldn't hide the smile tugging at his lips. "Is it safe to go in her room?" 

Alphys nodded.

Gerson and Sans followed Asriel into the quarantine room. Frisk didn't stir, chest rising and falling evenly. The broken tablet was still clutched against her chest.

"Three weeks and she still hasn't let it go." Asriel sighed. "The tablet's smashed and I doubt I'd be able to salvage it. It uses a type of file formatting that no one on board is familiar with."

Gerson gathered up the tablet, gently pulling it from Frisk's arms. "Let me go talk to my old lady about this." The old turtle wandered out of the lab.

Sans watched him go. "*have you ever met his wife?" 

Asriel shook his head. "Nope. It is yet another thing that he mentions and never actually talks about."

"*anything out of the two monsters?"

"Derete Card appears to have a long standing infatuation with me. On learning that Frisk was a human, it was enough to spur her into convincing her friend Ahron Aldiss that Frisk was a danger to monsters using the tablet. Aldiss was suspicious that his friend was lying to him, but overhearing a conversation about Frisk flooring Undyne convinced him that it was better to act than press for more information. He was very surprised that Frisk stopped to help him, despite the tablet being close enough to grab. He's asked to see Frisk when she comes out of quarantine."

"*really?"

"He wants to apologize."

"*so what's on the tablet that would convince a reasonable person that frisk wants to kill all monsters?"

"Card described films that showed humans killing monsters. She specifically spoke of one with a human destroying monsters with a variety of unusual weapons."

"*interesting."

Asriel nodded. "I wonder if the film's any good?"

Sans snorted. "*i guess we'll have to wait and see if gerson's better half can fix the tablet to find out. so what are you going to do with the two?"

Asriel frowned. "Frisk begged me not to hurt them, so I won't throw them out an air lock." He sighed. "I've decided to let the legal system haggle it out. Doing it that way means I can get a good idea how far fears of the 'dangerous human' are actually spread."

"*not a bad idea."

They fell silent watching Frisk's chest rise and fall. She rolled to her side and woke up immediately, grabbing for a tablet that wasn't there. Asriel caught her hand and held it. She looked at him, eyes purple yellow, and calmed, smiling at him.

"Your hand is really warm."

"I have a fever. Alphys says it's okay though." She pulled Asriel to her, and sat up to hug him. "Thank you."

He pulled back a bit to look at her face. "For what?"

"Staying with me at the biome."

He smiled and took her face between his hands, rubbing his nose against hers.

The door to the lab opened and Gerson waddled back into Frisk's room. "Well. The old bat can't fix the tablet. But she was able to transfer the contents onto a new one for ya. Wah ha ha ha!" He handed Frisk a data pad.

Frisk jumped out of the bed to hug the old turtle. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"*i hear you've got some films of humans hunting monsters on there."

Frisk looked at Sans. "The old horror flicks?" She looked at the three of them, confused. "You don't have horror films?"

Asriel adjusted to sit more firmly on the bed. "Oh now I'm really interested. What's a horror film?"

Frisk sat on the bed and turned on the data pad, opening the film file. "You know that feeling you get when you're on a roller coaster? That thrill mixed with fear? A lot of humans enjoy that feeling, especially when it's mixed with something horrific. And there was an entire industry that produced films and games that catered to evoking those feelings. The films themselves though, weren't ever really about monsters as you know them. They were all metaphors for problems that humans dealt with in daily life: mental disorders, body horror, powerlessness in the face of overwhelming odds. Some of them are actually about historical events and how humans coped with them." 

"When the monsters who stole your tablet were looking through it, they mentioned a human male destroying monsters with variety of strange weapons. Does that one ring a bell?" Asriel asked.

"Van Helsing?" She popped open one of the films. "That one isn't a horror film. It's an adventure with heavy doses of comedy. It's like they got a bunch of great actors together and told them to just ham it up for camera." She held up the tablet. "I never imagined someone would want to do me in over Hugh Jackman." 

Asriel took the tablet. Backing out of the films, he opened the family photos, stopping at the one of Frisk in her dress uniform. "I believe we left off here." He handed her the tablet.

Frisk smiled. "Yeah. We did."

Gerson patted Sans on the shoulder. "I believe that's our cue to leave. You kids have fun." He pointed at Asriel. "At least until Alphys kicks you out! Wah ha ha ha!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is it! The end! I hope you enjoyed it. Send me a review to let me know what you thought. Made some fan art? Let me know so I can see it! I don't know if I'll do more for this AU right away. I really like it, so I might, but now that this is finished I'll submit it to the AU Masterlist and call it done. Thank you for reading.


End file.
